Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns the damage has already been done in the wake of President Joe Biden’s comments downplaying the potential of a Russian invasion of Ukraine during a press conference earlier this week.
During an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show, Pompeo said despite efforts by the Biden administration to walk back the president’s remarks by White House officials, there was no way to “clean” up Biden’s initial statement.
“Yeah, you can’t clean this up, Hugh,” he said. “I saw this in my four years as secretary of State. The presidents speak. Their words are understood. When his team goes out afterward says no, that’s not what he means, they go back and watch the tape. We know precisely what President Biden was thinking and talking about there, and so does the entire world. It certainly has ramifications for the Ukrainian people, for the region, for our friends in Eastern Europe, in Poland and the Baltics.”
“But I think the whole world saw a president go and say look, there are things you can get away with now that you couldn’t get away with a few years ago, and this portends real risk for the United States and our interests around the world as a result of this,” Pompeo continued. “You can’t clean it up, Hugh. No chief of staff, no White House spokesperson, so off the record deputy national security advisor can fix what the president of the United States told the world that day.”
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